my many question about lc mining

[maddogl]

1. what is lite coin mining or is it near enough the same as bit coin but easier?

 

2.how would i start?

 

3. how easy is it?

 

4. is it profitable?

 

5.why is it all of a sudden popular?

 

thanks in advance for answering them as you can tell i am a newbie.

[Vitalius]

1. what is lite coin mining or is it near enough the same as bit coin but easier?

 

2.how would i start?

 

3. how easy is it?

 

4. is it profitable?

 

5.why is it all of a sudden popular?

 

thanks in advance for answering them as you can tell i am a newbie.

Well...

1. It's basically the same concept, but with a different algorithm. Bitcoin uses sha256 while Litecoin uses Scrypt. Scrypt needs tons of VRAM among other things, while sha256 doesn't need much at all. You can usually underclock your GPU's Memory Clock to like 300MHz and see no change in your hash rate when Bitcoin mining. While Litecoin mining benefits a lot from higher Memory clocks.

Also, Bitcoin mining is usually measured in MH/s (Megahashes per second) or GH/s (Gigahashes per second) while Litecoin mining is measured in KH/s (Kilohashes per second). This is because scrypt is harder to hash for by nature. 

2. You would buy the cheapest motherboard and CPU you could get your hands on. A lot of AMD GPUs. A power efficient, and powerful PSU. And a 8GB+ Thumb Drive, as well as 4GB of whatever RAM you can find.

Install Linux (BAMT --Scrypt or Ubuntu) onto the flash drive. Make an account at a pool. An example is www.wemineltc.com Set up your miner (cgminer 3.7.2) and optimize your GPUs. Then start mining. 

You would also want to download the Litecoin-qt wallet program and let it download the entire Blockchain (2GB+) and keep your coins locally so that others can't steal them (it happens, people scam). Then you would trade them to an exchange and trade them for BTC or money. Up to you. 

Though there are other coins to trade in (Namecoins - NMC, Feathercoins - FTC, Novacoins - NVC, etc). Think of them like stocks. 

3. Very easy imo if you have any computer knowledge. And considering you are on LTT forums, you probably have enough to make it easy on yourself. Though there is need for some trial and error. Such as when optimizing GPUs. 

4. Very. I use my 290X for gaming, but I made $80 mining LTC for the past week. That's 10 hours of work that I didn't have to do ($8 an hour). For dedicated mining rigs, it's usually profitable after the second month at most. Everything before that is set to recoup your investment. Everything after is profit. 

Just keep in mind power costs and how much you pay for electricity. The average price for electricity is $0.15 per kWh in the US. The US usually has cheaper (much cheaper at times) power than most countries though. 

At $0.15 per kWh and assuming you get 4 7950's, you would be spending around $5 a day to run it at 100% for 24 hours. You could pay more, or less for your electricity where you live. This is an estimation.

So electricity costs add up ($150 in a month). But with 4 7950's, your hash rate would be about 2800KH/s which would net you about 1.5LTC per day. That's a little over $50. In a week, you would make $350 and in a month (4.5 weeks), you would make $1575. You would spend $150 on electricity. So you would actually make $1425. 

Again, very profitable. However, difficulty changes every 3 days and with LTC, it is going up fast. Soon, you would be making 1LTC per day with that rig, but usually, higher difficulty means higher prices. So you would make the same. 

Again, roughly. All estimations, but mostly accurate estimations.

You live in the UK. I hear electricity is more expensive there. Might want to find out how much you pay per kWh to understand how profitable it can be for you. 

5. Because of the media. And the fact that ASIC's can't do it. 

An ASIC is a system designed to do one specific task. Like mine Bitcoins. You can make an ASIC for Litecoins, but Scrypt needs lots of VRAM and it has to be fast. 

That means an ASIC for Litecoins would be many many many times more expensive than an ASIC for Bitcoins. Mining Bitcoins with a GPU or CPU is no longer profitable (at all) thanks to ASIC's. Since Litecoins are very resistant to ASIC use, due to high costs, they are easier for the public and the poor to invest in. 

Litecoins are silver (Worth around $34 each at time of writing). Bitcoins are Gold (Worth around $996 at time of writing). Some say Feathercoins will be Copper, but we will see about that (Worth $1 at time of writing).

Prices vary though, some exchanges (BTC-e) have BTC selling for $800-$950. While others (MTGox) has them selling for $1050+. The same is true of all the altcoins (a term for all cryptocurrencies that are not Bitcoin). 

I hope that was enough info. I'm tired. Time to go trade some LTC.

[helping]

http://cryptojunky.com/blog/2013/03/12/absolute-beginners-guide-to-litecoin-mining/

 

https://litecoin.info/Mining_hardware_comparison

 

http://www.coinwarz.com/calculators/litecoin-mining-calculator

 

https://www.khanacademy.org/economics-finance-domain/core-finance/money-and-banking/bitcoin/v/bitcoin-what-is-it

 

http://www.heavy.com/tech/2013/12/bitcoin-vs-litecoin-peercoin-ripple-namecoin/

 

[TheRuke]

1. Same as Bitcoin but easier atm because it is based on Scrypt which doesn't allow ASIC Miners.

2. Join a poll and download the Litecoin Wallet and Miner Software

3. It depends on your k/hash rate. but a 6670 should get ~130 (Calculator)

4. Probably not with your current configuration.

5. Because it's picking up in value. Was $10 about two weeks ago but now it ranges from $30-$48. Also It is widely accepted and perhaps Bitcoin's successor.

 

Wow @helping lazy much. I spent some time on my answers.

Edited December 3, 2013 by TheRuke

[helping]

1. Same as Bitcoin but easier atm because it is based on Scrypt which doesn't allow ASIC Miners.

2. Join a poll and download the Litecoin Wallet and Miner Software

3. It depends on your k/hash rate. but a 6670 should get ~130 (Calculator)

4. Probably not with your current configuration.

5. Because it's picking up in value. Was $10 about two weeks ago but now it ranges from $30-$48. Also It is widely accepted and perhaps Bitcoin's successor.

 

Wow @helping lazy much. I spent some time on my answers.

An important part of a question is knowing what to ask, to do that you need to have some sort of knowledge on the subject.

 

I provided rudimentary links that should cover basically everything, the forum can be asked for a more detailed explanation on something specific. There's no way you could reasonably explain everything in a single post without a publisher and editor. A one sentence answer for each is useless if you're going to give anything more than a definition. 

 

I'd argue that what I provided was more useful, he'll have to look things up no matter what everyone on this forum will tell him, or anyone else for that matter. I got him started on that research. 

 

I should have probably looked at his hardware first, that was my mistake, but hopefully the post can help someone else. 

[TheRuke]

An important part of a question is knowing what to ask, to do that you need to have some sort of knowledge on the subject.

 

I provided rudimentary links that should cover basically everything, the forum can be asked for a more detailed explanation on something specific. There's no way you could reasonably explain everything in a single post without a publisher and editor. A one sentence answer for each is useless if you're going to give anything more than a definition. 

 

I'd argue that what I provided was more useful, he'll have to look things up no matter what everyone on this forum will tell him, or anyone else for that matter. I got him started on that research. 

 

I should have probably looked at his hardware first, that was my mistake, but hopefully the post can help someone else. 

Yes mam 

[maddogl]

Lets get started with those links then, thanks everyone for all of the information looks like i might wait till i upgrade ny gpu to do any mining but thanks again anyway.

[Vitalius]

I spent some time on my answers.

...

 

Well...

1. It's basically the same concept, but with a different algorithm. Bitcoin uses sha256 while Litecoin uses Scrypt. Scrypt needs tons of VRAM among other things, while sha256 doesn't need much at all. You can usually underclock your GPU's Memory Clock to like 300MHz and see no change in your hash rate when Bitcoin mining. While Litecoin mining benefits a lot from higher Memory clocks.

Also, Bitcoin mining is usually measured in MH/s (Megahashes per second) or GH/s (Gigahashes per second) while Litecoin mining is measured in KH/s (Kilohashes per second). This is because scrypt is harder to hash for by nature. 

2. You would buy the cheapest motherboard and CPU you could get your hands on. A lot of AMD GPUs. A power efficient, and powerful PSU. And a 8GB+ Thumb Drive, as well as 4GB of whatever RAM you can find.

Install Linux (BAMT --Scrypt or Ubuntu) onto the flash drive. Make an account at a pool. An example is www.wemineltc.com Set up your miner (cgminer 3.7.2) and optimize your GPUs. Then start mining. 

You would also want to download the Litecoin-qt wallet program and let it download the entire Blockchain (2GB+) and keep your coins locally so that others can't steal them (it happens, people scam). Then you would trade them to an exchange and trade them for BTC or money. Up to you. 

Though there are other coins to trade in (Namecoins - NMC, Feathercoins - FTC, Novacoins - NVC, etc). Think of them like stocks. 

3. Very easy imo if you have any computer knowledge. And considering you are on LTT forums, you probably have enough to make it easy on yourself. Though there is need for some trial and error. Such as when optimizing GPUs. 

4. Very. I use my 290X for gaming, but I made $80 mining LTC for the past week. That's 10 hours of work that I didn't have to do ($8 an hour). For dedicated mining rigs, it's usually profitable after the second month at most. Everything before that is set to recoup your investment. Everything after is profit. 

Just keep in mind power costs and how much you pay for electricity. The average price for electricity is $0.15 per kWh in the US. The US usually has cheaper (much cheaper at times) power than most countries though. 

At $0.15 per kWh and assuming you get 4 7950's, you would be spending around $5 a day to run it at 100% for 24 hours. You could pay more, or less for your electricity where you live. This is an estimation.

So electricity costs add up ($150 in a month). But with 4 7950's, your hash rate would be about 2800KH/s which would net you about 1.5LTC per day. That's a little over $50. In a week, you would make $350 and in a month (4.5 weeks), you would make $1575. You would spend $150 on electricity. So you would actually make $1425. 

Again, very profitable. However, difficulty changes every 3 days and with LTC, it is going up fast. Soon, you would be making 1LTC per day with that rig, but usually, higher difficulty means higher prices. So you would make the same. 

Again, roughly. All estimations, but mostly accurate estimations.

You live in the UK. I hear electricity is more expensive there. Might want to find out how much you pay per kWh to understand how profitable it can be for you. 

5. Because of the media. And the fact that ASIC's can't do it. 

An ASIC is a system designed to do one specific task. Like mine Bitcoins. You can make an ASIC for Litecoins, but Scrypt needs lots of VRAM and it has to be fast. 

That means an ASIC for Litecoins would be many many many times more expensive than an ASIC for Bitcoins. Mining Bitcoins with a GPU or CPU is no longer profitable (at all) thanks to ASIC's. Since Litecoins are very resistant to ASIC use, due to high costs, they are easier for the public and the poor to invest in. 

Litecoins are silver (Worth around $34 each at time of writing). Bitcoins are Gold (Worth around $996 at time of writing). Some say Feathercoins will be Copper, but we will see about that (Worth $1 at time of writing).

Prices vary though, some exchanges (BTC-e) have BTC selling for $800-$950. While others (MTGox) has them selling for $1050+. The same is true of all the altcoins (a term for all cryptocurrencies that are not Bitcoin). 

I hope that was enough info. I'm tired. Time to go trade some LTC.

[Butterfish]

Lets get started with those links then, thanks everyone for all of the information looks like i might wait till i upgrade ny gpu to do any mining but thanks again anyway.

Also check out this guide

 

http://www.cryptobadger.com/build-your-own-litecoin-mining-rig/

 

Good luck!

[helping]

4. Very. I use my 290X for gaming, but I made $80 mining LTC for the past week. That's 10 hours of work that I didn't have to do ($8 an hour). For dedicated mining rigs, it's usually profitable after the second month at most. Everything before that is set to recoup your investment. Everything after is profit. 

Just keep in mind power costs and how much you pay for electricity. The average price for electricity is $0.15 per kWh in the US. The US usually has cheaper (much cheaper at times) power than most countries though. 

At $0.15 per kWh and assuming you get 4 7950's, you would be spending around $5 a day to run it at 100% for 24 hours. You could pay more, or less for your electricity where you live. This is an estimation.

So electricity costs add up ($150 in a month). But with 4 7950's, your hash rate would be about 2800KH/s which would net you about 1.5LTC per day. That's a little over $50. In a week, you would make $350 and in a month (4.5 weeks), you would make $1575. You would spend $150 on electricity. So you would actually make $1425. 

Again, very profitable. However, difficulty changes every 3 days and with LTC, it is going up fast. Soon, you would be making 1LTC per day with that rig, but usually, higher difficulty means higher prices. So you would make the same. 

Again, roughly. All estimations, but mostly accurate estimations.

You live in the UK. I hear electricity is more expensive there. Might want to find out how much you pay per kWh to understand how profitable it can be for you. 

I'm cautiously optimistic about earnings more than a week prior. The difficulty already jumped from 17xx ro 1964 today, and if you look at how it's trending, eh..

 

 

compared to BTC

 

 

 

you can see it's about to pick up, especially considering people have knowledge of what happened to bitcoin, you can expect more people to jump onboard. LTC right now is beginning to look a lot like July BTC, though it should remain profitable for a while, it's really uncertain if you can't mass a large amount quickly. 

 

Keep it on the hush, but I'm going to strongly consider moving to FTC in a month or few.

[Vitalius]

):

Yeah. Will do. I'm already there.